College Football Rankings Week 14: 10 Teams Better Than Their Current Spot

College Football Rankings Week 14: 10 Teams Better Than Their Current Spot

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BCS Rankings Week 14 were released on Sunday, and—surprise, surprise—the system managed to screw up once again.

I could go on and on about how flawed it is, but I only have a limited amount of time here.

Instead, I'll point out exactly what I hate about this week's rankings because I've found a disturbing trend that just can't seem to go away: the BCS always managing to rank teams at least a few spots lower than their performance calls for.

So let's take a look at what teams are feeling the wrath of the BCS this week.

Here are the top 10 teams who are better than their spot in the Week 14 BCS Rankings.

10. Nebraska (No. 13)

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Nebraska has had two disappointing losses this season, with one coming at home to a lowly Texas team, and the other coming on the road in a terrible offensive showing.

But the Cornhuskers' two losses came when the Longhorns were still supposed to be good and when Texas A&M was taking down everyone in its path.

Nebraska lost those two games by a combined 10 points, and they've got a couple of big victories in conference play.

The Cornhuskers took down Oklahoma State (on the road) and Missouri in back-to-back weeks.

Nebraska has clearly been a bit up and down all season, but the Cornhuskers are a tough match-up week in and week out.

9. West Virginia (No. 24)

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I get it—West Virginia plays in the Big East, and that conference has been ungodly awful this season.

But the Mountaineers are about as close to being undefeated as a three-loss team can get, with the team's total margin of defeat in those games being just 14 points.

West Virginia could easily be 10-1 at this point, but a couple of plays went the wrong way for the Mountaineers.

They've proven to be a tough defensive team all season as well.

The Mountaineers give up just 12.6 points per game, which is tops in the Big East and second in the nation.

So don't let that 8-3 record or No. 24 ranking fool you. West Virginia is a very good football team.

8. Nevada (No. 17)

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The WAC struggles as a whole, and it's really costing good football teams like Nevada.

The Wolfpack jumped up only two spots in this week's rankings despite taking down Boise State in a huge conference clash.

Nevada rushes for more than 300 yards per game, they have one of the nation's most unheralded quarterbacks in Colin Kaepernick and they rank sixth in the nation in scoring.

But they can't seem to get much respect.

I know that much of what they've accomplished has been done against inferior competition, but those are still Division I athletes on the field.

The Wolfpack's rushing attack keeps them in every game they play, and they only have one slip-up on the season, on the road against a quality Hawaii team.

7. South Carolina (No. 19)

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South Carolina is often overlooked because the Gamecocks have lost three SEC games.

But one of those losses game against the current No. 1 team in the BCS rankings (Auburn) and the other came against the current No. 7 team (Arkansas).

Yeah, the loss to Kentucky was pretty bad, but South Carolina arguably should have won the game against Auburn.

A fourth-quarter with four turnovers really did them in in that game.

And we can't just forget that the Gamecocks knocked off then-No. 1 Alabama when everyone thought the Crimson Tide was untouchable.

South Carolina may have a few losses, but they do have that win over Alabama, they are in the midst of a three-game winning streak and they're headed to the SEC Championship Game.

The Gamecocks are no scrubs.

6. Oklahoma State (No. 14)

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Oklahoma State couldn't have lost at a worse time.

When the Cowboys fell to Oklahoma last week, they killed any chances they had of playing in a BCS bowl.

But they're still a very good football team with a high-octane offense that can score with any team in the country.

Oklahoma State puts up 44.9 points per game (No. 3 in the nation) and passes for 354.7 yards per game (No. 2 in the nation).

The Cowboys do have two losses, but those came against Nebraska (No. 13) and Oklahoma (No. 9).

I can't imagine any team in the nation wanting to face Brandon Weeden, Justin Blackmon and the Cowboys in any way, shape or form.

Oklahoma State's offense has only scored less than 33 points once all season.

5. Texas A&M (No. 18)

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Texas A&M's early struggles haven't done the Aggies any favors in the polls.

The Aggies started 3-3 (with those wins coming against cupcake teams), and it seems they can't get past that rough start to make any considerable jump in the rankings.

Since Ryan Tannehill took over at quarterback for Texas A&M in October though, the Aggies have reeled off six straight wins, including two top 10 victories over Nebraska and Oklahoma.

Texas A&M has obviously rebounded 10-fold from a disappointing early stretch, but they still fall behind the two Big 12 powerhouses they took down in November.

That rough start even prevented them from appearing in the Big 12 title game.

I guess the Aggies are at No. 18 largely by their own doing, but there's no doubt they're a better team right now than they were earlier in the season.

4. Arkansas (No. 7)

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At No. 7, Arkansas is the highest-ranked two loss team in the nation.

Yet I still find the Razorbacks to be a better team than that ranking indicates.

Arkansas's two losses came against then-No. 1 Alabama and current No. 1 Auburn, and the Razorbacks have bounced back big time since those games.

Arkansas has won six straight contest to move to 10-2, including three conference wins over top 25 opponents.

Ryan Mallett and the Razorbacks can throw and score with the best of them, and that defense is good enough to keep them in most games.

There's only a handful of teams who could hang with Arkansas.

3. Boise State (No. 11)

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One loss drops a team from No. 4 to No. 11? Really?

I'm not buying that. At all.

Boise State would have beaten Nevada if it wasn't for the team's kicker pulling a monumental choke-job, not just once, but twice.

So I can't really agree with the computers dropping the Broncos all the way to No. 14 in the rankings.

After all, it's a freakin' computer, people.

Boise State still has the nation's No. 2 scoring offense and No. 4 scoring defense, and the Broncos have played one half of bad football all season.

They might not play the greatest competition in the world, but they're still a top 10 team in my book.

2. Virginia Tech (No. 15)

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Virginia Tech was on the wrong side of this season's worst upset, and I'll admit that losing to James Madison in anything other than a presidential race is inexcusable.

But the Hokies' only other blemish was a three-point loss at the hands of Boise State during the opening week of the season.

They've completed turned their season around since then, reeling off ten straight victories and bulldozing through their ACC schedule.

So why is Virginia Tech still so low in the BCS Rankings? Those damn computers again.

The Hokies are ranked 20th by the computers, which can't seem to overlook that terrible loss to James Madison.

Again, that loss is inexplicable, but the Hokies have been perfect since mid-September.

It's time to stop punishing them.

1. Wisconsin (No. 5)

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It's hard to argue against TCU and Stanford being ranked in the top five.

But I'm not here to do that. I'm here to argue why Wisconsin should be higher than No. 5.

The Badgers have just one blemish, a 10-point loss to Michigan State way back on Oct. 2.

Since then?

Wisconsin has been as impressive as any team in the nation, winning seven straight games, including big victories over then-No.1 Ohio State and Iowa.

The Badgers have also averaged 67 points the last three weeks despite playing two teams headed to bowl games.

Wisconsin dropped 83 points on Indiana and 70 points on Northwestern during that stretch.